Method of disinfecting incubators



W to disease Patented Dec. 22, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT opp- OBN H. HACKLEY, 0F CHERRYVALE, KANSAS METHOD OF DISINFEGTING INC'U'IBATORS Afiplication filed April is, was.- serial No. 270,265.

This invention relates to a method and system of disinfecting incubators, particularly that class of incubators in ,which the air in the incubating chamber is kept in motlon either mechanically or by an inherent natural draft due to the passage through the chamber of air in a heated condition.

An important source of loss to the hatch the hatching of chicks in incubators is due germs which find their way nto the incubating chamber through the medium of infected eggs, particularly in incubators, in which the air is circulated by a fan or otherwise over the eggs in the process of mcubation. These germs are found on the interior of the eggs as well as tlIB'BXtGIlOI so that the germs are not only carried throughout the incubating chamber from the unhatched eggs but also from the hatched eggs and by the down feom diseased chicks after hatching. One of these diseases is bacillary white diarrhea, or pullorum disease, and is transmitted to healthy chicks from chicks which have it as a matter ofv heredity from agamst the spread of disease therefore to the newly hatched chicks it becomes desirable to periodically disinfect the eggs after they have been placed in the incubator and while they are in the process of incubation 1 a paratively high degree of humidity is maintained and if the disinfectant is distributed uniformly throughout the incubating cham-" her by a forced circulation of air.

The object .of the invention is to provide a method and system for the disinfecting of incubators which will be simple and effective for rendering diseased germs inactive without harm to the of incubation;

A further and more specific object'of the invention is to incubator a mixture of provide for injecting into the disinfectant and mois-- ture which will be carried by forced currents of without materially dis air throughout the incubating chamber turbing the conditions of temperature or other necessary conditions incidental to proper hatching.

In the accompanying drawing,

1 is a vertical section of my improved method and system.

The invention is particularly applicable to 1 an incub in which a circulation ator of the soincubation including the figure an incubat called mammoth type of air therethrough is induced by'a fan. The incubator chamber is indicated at 1 a central corridor therebetween formed by walls 3. ries the division through a se or over a heater in th ng compartments with Fresh air is admitted of restricted inlets 4 in the ceiling of the chamber, this air b lated downwardly through the ce e parent stockthrouglrthe contents of the d egg In order to effectively safeguard;

eing circue form of coils of pipe 5 and thence upwardly over the egg trays in the hatchin 6, foul air being a series of rest portion of the ricted ated in this manner a tice in this type. of incubator.

g compartments by an electricfan permitted to escape through outlets 7; the ma or air being continuously circus-is the common prac- To carry out my method and system of disinfecting th cubating ch inlets 4 and the fan an e apparatus, I locate in they inamber preferably between the air injection device shown .in the present case as two spray nozzles 8 which are connected to a pipe 10 which leads to a source of moisture supply under pressure. In the present case I have shown this eggs or chicks in the process provided to regulate t source of moistu 11 which is plies steam re supply as a steam boiler preferably the boiler which supto the coil hot water is used to he supply of moisture will s 5 although where atthe incubator the be taken from the hot water heater and a suitable pump employed to create a pressure.

placed in a small contai nected with the pipe The disinfectant is ner 12 which is con- 10, a valve 13 being he supply. .This con- 100 or showing Y and 2 represents egg tray s I ntral corrimoisture. lihe quantity tainer is preferably provided with a drop sight feed 14 of well lrnown construction so that the amount of disinfectant supplied may be regulated.

A disinfectant which I have found effective is formalin, which is a water solution of formaldehyde gas, and the mixture of disinfectant and moisture is sprayed into the incubating chamber preferably in the proportion of one part disinfectant to two parts of disinfectant which li have found effective is substantially 500 cc. of formalin to a chamber of substantially 850 cubic feet capacity, although these exact proportions can be varied with good results.

In spraying the disinfectant, the air is circulated in the normal way with the air intake and outlets open and it has been found that an incubator can in a very short time be thoroughly disinfected in this manner without harm to the eggs in the process of incubation or to the chicks being hatched.

By the method described it has been found possible to effectively disinfect an incubator without harm to the hatch, it having been discovered that the introduction of the disinfectant in substantially the propor tion described, together with moisture to an extent that will materially increase the humidity of the incubating chamber, if a low humidity should exist, by a continuously moving forced circulation of air, acts to cause an even distribution or absorption of the disinfectant throughout the structure as well as over the entire bodies of the chicks, as the disinfectant employed has a pronounced affinity for moisture.

For best results the machine should not be disturbed for a period of one and one-half hours after the disinfectant has been introduced but if it becomes necessary to enter the chamber shortly after the introduction of the disinfectant a neutralizing agent such as ammonia water is introduced in any suitable manner.

While I have described the introduction into the air currents of the incubating chamber of formaldehyde gas in the formalin I do not desire to be limited to the exact method of introducing the gas nor to the exact proportion specified.

Having thus described my invention, 1

' claimi 1. The method of disinfecting an incubator during the operation of hatching eggs of destroying disease germs without harm to the hatch consisting in creating a forced circulation of air in the incubating chamber, introducing moisture to the air currents to impart thereto a higher degree of humidity than possessed by outside atmosphere, and introducing formaldehyde to the air currents.

2. The method of disinfecting an incunssaaee bator during the operation of hatching eggs for the purpose of destroying disease germs without harm to the hatch consisting 1n creating a forced circulation of air in the 1ncubating chamber, introducing moisture into the chamber to provide a comparatively high de 'ree of humidity, and introducing formaldehyde to theair currents.

in testimony where, l have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of March,

JUHN H. 

